I learned to be quiet and to sit up straight! - I learned to respect the order of a meeting although I did not want to do so!
- I learned that it is better to have order and process during the flow of ideas rather than bestiality like grunts and animal-like gestures of not having their basic needs met and an instinct to just attack as a mother hawk would do upon seeing danger near her young...
Human or animal...Are we strong enough to have order and follow the order of a meeting and than latter insist upon your public comment and full exchange of ideas in an orderly fashion!
This reminds me of the film 'Quest for Fire' where our very early ancestors discover fire to help in their early civilized lives but have not exchanged any language as we know it but rather their ideas were communicated in a series of grunts. Grunts of all types! Loud grunts, Soft grunts, Animal -like grunts and then the big burley macho 'I am King so listen to me mother of all grunts'
Quest for Fire...
The setting takes place 80,000 years ago during the Ice Age in Europe when members of the Homo erectus Wagabu tribe attack the Homo neanderthalensis Ulams. The Wagabus kill many of the Ulams and unsuccessfully attempt to steal a flaming branch from the fire that the tribe keeps perpetually burning. A small number of the Ulams escape, including their fire tender, but the ember he manages to rescue is too small to start a new fire. With their fire gone, the Ulam face imminent threat from freezing and starvation. The tribe sends three men, Naoh, Amoukar and Gaw, on a quest to steal more fire from a natural blaze or another tribe. During their journey, they encounter several different kinds of wild beasts (mammoths and smilodons) and other primitive human beings.
Eventually, the Ulam trio enters territory of the Kzamm tribe (Homo neanderthalensis), cannibals (in fact, they were not eating members of their own species) who have captured two members of the Ivaka tribe (homo sapiens sapiens) and have begun eating one of their severed arms. Naoh manages to steal some fire from the Kzamms, but he is injured in a fight with two of them. He rejoins Gaw and Amoukar. A young woman named Ika, an Ivaka prisoner who escapes with Naoh, joins them seeking protection.
One day, Ika recognizes that she is near her home. She tries to persuade the Ulam trio to go with her, but either the men's sense of purpose or the lack of a common language with the woman keeps them together on their way back to the Ulam. However, when Ika leaves them the next morning, Naoh is upset; at first he continues without her, but becomes increasingly agitated before he turns back to follow her. (The other two reluctantly follow him). After Naoh leaves Gaw and Amoukar to investigate a village they come across he is captured by the Ivakas.
At first, he is gawked at and teased by the more advanced Ivaka, but the tribe's elders decide that his size, strength, and healthy teeth would be useful additions to the Ivaka gene pool. While they circle his tent, yelling and clapping, he is encouraged to plant his seed in a plump female who settles onto the floor of his hut with her rump in the air. The Ivakas accept Naoh as one of their own and he begins to adopt their style and ways. The Ivaka tribe is the most advanced tribe depicted in the film. They use atlatls, arts (body painting, huts, ornaments, gourd vessels), and most importantly, fire. When Naoh is taught to make fire by rubbing sticks together, he is awed and overwhelmed.
Growing impatient, Gaw and Amoukar go to find Naoh and are also captured. During their ordeal, they are disturbed to realize that one of the teasers is Naoh, initially unrecognizable as he now wears the full body-paint of the Ivaka. Gaw and Amoukar steal some of the Ivakas' fire and escape during the night, knocking the unwilling Naoh unconscious with a rock and carrying him off. Ika sees them taking her paramour and follows the trio into the night.
On their way back to the Ulams, a cave bear attacks and severely wounds Gaw. While carrying him off they are attacked by a band of renegade Ulams, whom they kill with spear throwers taken from the Ivaka.
Upon rejoining the Ulam tribe they hand the smoldering embers to the fire tender, who immediately stumbles into the marsh and extinguishes the flame. Naoh tries to create fire by using some twigs, dung and dry grasses. After several failed attempts, Ika takes over, carefully rubbing the dry sticks together. Once the spark is lit, the tribe is overjoyed, silent and overwhelmed. The final shot of the movie reveals Naoh and a pregnant Ika embracing in the moonlight.
Besides all the epic story, the film is about a supposed age when three human species (homo erectus, homo sapiens and homo neanderthalensis), cohabitated the planet. Quest For Fire follows the theory that there was a "fusion" between neanderthals, less developed, and modern men, owner, at this time, of a certain technology. Homo erectus would have been defeated in virtue of its "primitiveness". Today, most scientists believe that while the three species cohabited the planet, there were never areas where all three co-existed.
With this in mind...
GUEST OPINION: City needs to be proactive, 02-25-09
By Eric Poulin
Fall River —
I have been very troubled over the recent debate regarding the former Bradford Durfee Textile School located at 64 Durfee St. One side is making the accusation that certain parties only want to award a bid to Peabody Properties because of political contributions that were made, while the other side is saying this issue is intentionally being mishandled in order to advance the potential mayoral candidacies of certain city councilors. Unfortunately, caught in the middle are local activists Jeff Carpenter and Alan Amaral, two people who should be given the bulk of the credit for pushing Fall River politicians into finally passing an arts overlay district, and for expanding the availability of liquor licenses in order to attract more upscale establishments to Fall River. While I certainly believe that the intentions of local activists are pure, and I definitely hope that the same can be said for our elected leaders, the bottom line is that the rhetoric, which has been ratcheted up by certain parties in comments given to the local media, needs to stop, and it needs to stop now as it could be a deterrent to much-needed progress in Fall River. We genuinely need to take a step back and look at the big picture, and if we do so we are forced to admit that the cold, hard facts suggest that the potential redevelopment of the former police station by the city was mishandled. It also appears that the redevelopment of the former Bradford Durfee Textile School by the Redevelopment Authority has been mishandled. Those of us who desire to look at the big picture and who desire to move the city forward would now ask the question, “How can we do things correctly in the future?” Whether it is the city putting a property out to bid, or a quasi public/private entity like the Redevelopment Authority, it should be clear to all by now that improvements are needed in how we conduct business. We may soon be putting several former school buildings out to bid for redevelopment by the private sector, and I would hate to see destructive battles and fighting occur over each and every one of them. It would be great to see the city and entities associated with the city being proactive, as we currently seem to be reactive on too many issues. In fact, this issue in particular was one that I spoke about dating back to 2007, even issuing an action plan on the matter, but let me restate the concepts very simply:1.) When we put together a request for proposal it needs to be very clearly stated how we are looking for the property to be developed and how the responses will be scored/evaluated. 2.) We can’t be shortsighted. If one developer offers $100,000 to purchase a property and another $200,000, it does not automatically mean the $200,000 offer is the best proposal. The best proposal is the one that has the highest and best use of the property in mind, (something that should be spelled out in the RFP) and is the one that is going to invest the greatest dollar amount in the property itself. These are concepts that taxpayers are able to grasp but a poll of city officials/elected leaders after the police station fiasco showed widespread disagreement, with some even arguing that the higher sale price needed to be taken simply because that’s the way it has always been done. While I would suggest that we should do whatever is possible to encourage properties to be developed into office buildings or other types of uses that create jobs and disposable income for our residents who are grappling with the city’s high unemployment rate, common sense and reason should allow us all to agree that an investment in a property that creates substantial property tax revenues for the city for many years to come should be preferable over accepting a quick buck or two that comes from the sale of a property. The one-time money from a sale, once it is spent, is gone forever. Annual property tax revenues are re-occurring and will come into the city’s coffers every year. Cities that can encourage and facilitate good proposals from good developers can often pay for necessary services while at the same time keep property taxes low for residents. It is not an impossible dream, just one that we have not yet realized. Fall River is a great city and the potential is there; in fact, it has been for many years. After the debacle with the police station, city officials said they would “explore” the use of “reverter clauses” or “performance guarantees.” This would mean that if a developer does not follow through with what they said they were going to do with a given property that it would either revert back to the city, or if the property was sold within a given time frame without anything productive being done that the city and its taxpayers would reap a large amount of revenue from the sale. No word has ever come back as to whether or not that “exploration” was successful and if the ideas were legal or illegal. Now some might say that developers would be afraid to commit to such a thing, but I might argue that a developer that has a strong track record and the capability to deliver would probably not be so easily frightened. Lastly, I believe we received two bids when we put our police station out to bid and we just received two bids for the former Durfee Textile School property. Two bids! If proper marketing had been done, (and to their credit, officials associated with the bid process have recently admitted on local radio that it wasn’t) then maybe we would have to accept that meager level of interest. However, Fall River should stop accepting mediocrity and half-hearted “C” performances or worse when the residents of our city deserve excellence and “A+” performances from all of our leaders. With the birth of the Internet and with real estate trade publications and publications serving the arts community, etc., a better marketing effort involving little to no cost might have produced more bids. In fact, I was pleased to hear Ken Fiola of the Fall River Office of Economic Development suggest on local radio that the Internet and other resources may be employed the next time. Perhaps then there is hope for everyone to grasp the big picture, but bickering must be put aside in order to promote the people’s agenda, which is ultimately the only one that will result in real progress for the citizens of Fall River. Eric Poulin is a local activist, former mayoral aide and former mayoral candidate.
Public RFP oversight Overhaul needed ...
The highlights of this letter should be acted upon so it becomes part of local government, its quasi-private agencies and its economic development / redevelopment authorities.
We must move forward with this needed public RFP oversight reform?
I will help in any committee that is willing to take this on and prepare a working document!
Any takers...
Oliver P. Cipollini, Jr.
